"Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies" | ||||
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Single by Biffy Clyro | ||||
from the album Puzzle | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 14 May 2007 (UK) | |||
Recorded | The Warehouse Studio Vancouver, British Columbia The Farm Studios Gibsons, British Columbia | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:18(album version) 3:33 (single version) | |||
Label | 14th Floor 14FLR21CD (UK, CD) 14FLR21V1 (UK, 7" #1) 14FLR21V2 (UK, 7" #2) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Simon Neil | |||
Producer(s) | Garth Richardson Biffy Clyro | |||
Biffy Clyro singles chronology | ||||
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Puzzle track listing | ||||
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"Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies" is the opening song on Scottish band Biffy Clyro's fourth album, Puzzle . It was released on 14 May 2007, as the second physical single from the album. The song itself, without any B-sides, was released as a digital download on 7 May 2007.
In the week after its download release, but before its CD release, the single reached number 72 on the UK Singles Chart before peaking at number 19 the week of its release. The same week, the song became the band's second number-one single on the Scottish Singles Chart, after "Saturday Superhouse". The song was the first single released by the band in the United States, and was the first single released there for Puzzle . It was added to the playlists of several radio stations in the United States [1] —including WBRU, WQEX and WHHZ—which allowed the song to reach number 47 on the Mediabase Alternative Airplay chart. [2]
Simon Neil has commented on the song, saying:
This is one of the first songs I wrote for the record and it has changed very little since its conception. I always knew I wanted a choir and strings on it, and it has a real epic feel. It's about not wanting to waste your life, but about having no idea where to turn and suddenly being aware of your own mortality. [3]
This sums up the new record and shows that we're not happy to plough the same same kind of furrow as we've done before. We wanted something epic and over-the-top and something the three of us would find hard to do. [4]
He also added that it is "about hitting a low point and not giving a fuck. It was classic depression, I suppose." [5]
The song was first played on BBC Radio 1 by Zane Lowe on 13 March 2007 in The Hottest Record In The World segment. On 29 March, it was announced that the track will be released as a single (instead of "The Conversation Is...", as originally planned), following a "fairly wonderful" reaction to the track when played on Zane Lowe's Radio One show. [6]
The guitars and bass in "Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies" are in Drop C tuning, [7] which is a notable variation from Biffy Clyro's preferred tuning: Drop D. The track features string and choir arrangements by Hollywood composer Graeme Revell, performed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The band has used string sections before in the songs "With Aplomb" and "Now the Action Is On Fire!" from 2003's The Vertigo of Bliss , but this is the first time the band has worked with an orchestra. The orchestra is also featured on the track "9/15ths". The arrangement was written by the band themselves.
Songs and lyrics by Simon Neil. Music by Biffy Clyro.
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
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Scotland (OCC) [8] | 1 |
UK Singles (OCC) [9] | 19 |
US Alternative Radio Airplay ( Mediabase ) [2] | 47 |
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil, James Johnston, and Ben Johnston. Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have released nine studio albums, six of which reached the top five in the UK Albums Chart, with their sixth studio album, Opposites claiming their first UK No. 1 album. Three consecutive studio albums peaked at number one in the UK official albums chart. After their first three albums, the band expanded their following significantly in 2007 with the release of their fourth album, Puzzle, creating more mainstream songs with simpler rhythms and distancing themselves from the more unusual dissonant style present in their previous three albums. Puzzle peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart on 16 June 2007. The album went platinum in the UK in 2012, having sold over 300,000 copies. In the early 2010’s, they built up a reputation of being one of the biggest rock bands in the UK.
Puzzle is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro, released 4 June 2007 – the album was later released in America in August. It is the band's first album since leaving Beggars Banquet.
"Semi-Mental" is a song by Biffy Clyro and the first single from their fourth album, Puzzle, and is a download only single. It was released on 25 December 2006. The song was not UK singles chart eligible as at the time, downloads only counted towards charts sales if there was a physical release.
"Saturday Superhouse" is a song by Biffy Clyro and the first physical single from their fourth album, Puzzle. It was released on 5 March 2007. The band undertook a promotional tour of UK HMV stores to coincide with the release of the single.
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Only Revolutions is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Biffy Clyro, released 9 November 2009 on 14th Floor Records. As with its predecessor, Puzzle, the album was produced by Garth Richardson. Upon release, Only Revolutions was a critical and commercial success. The album entered at No. 8 on the UK Album Chart and was then certified gold by the BPI shortly afterwards. It was certified platinum by the BPI in June 2010 for shipments of 300,000 copies in the UK, making it the band's largest selling album. In September 2010, the album achieved a new peak position of No. 3. It was the 26th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with sales of 377,900. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize, which is awarded annually for the best album in the UK or Ireland, and Rock Sound declared it third in its list of the 75 best albums of 2009.
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"Bubbles" is the fifth single taken from Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro's fifth studio album, Only Revolutions. Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss and Them Crooked Vultures provides additional lead guitar in the song. Despite being one of the lower charting songs from the album, it has spent more weeks in the top 100 than any other Biffy Clyro song.
"God & Satan" is the sixth single from Biffy Clyro's fifth album, Only Revolutions. It was released on 23 August 2010 – exactly one year on from the release of the first proper single from the Only Revolutions marketing campaign, "That Golden Rule".
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